Device for polishing metal or the like



June 23, 1936. M. RYAN DEVICE FOR POLISHING METAL on THE LIKE Filed Jan.31, 1935 INVENTOR. M455 Ryan. BY AT}:)RNEY5.

Patented June 23, 1936 novice roe, rosmnemrar. @lit one true llilattRyan, Detroit, Mich. Application January 3t, 1935, Serial No. ifi'l'liii Claims.

lvly invention relates to devices for polishing rectal, or the like,preparatory to the application oi plating or similar finish.

Polishing devices of the kind to which my invention r .ates, consistgenerally of wheels made of superimposed layers or pads oi fabric orrout material, such as cloth or felt or a lilre rihrous material, ofleather, the layers loeing v secured together by intervening layers ofsuch as glue, or the like. In c sees, the edges oi. the layers offibrous l. and adhesive material which are pro-- periphery or polishingface oi the ad in circumferentially disposed and st or creating areas ofrelatively soft macred of the clue or adhesive he "re cloth layers. A.wheel so constructed ted. elven points at which the article J polishedis applied, either manually or by icons of wort: holding device. Theworking 1 e device dressed oil evenly by means e or lilee instrument, acoating of glue ap-= thereto, a coating oi abrasive, such as dust,applied to the glue, and a second 1 ii oi' glue applied over theabrasive mate-- r i the device operated until the wearing it e soapplied is worn oil, at which time the oi the device is again dressedoff evenly and new coating of glue and abrasive material ap Thealternating relatively soft layers oi and relatively hard layers of glueprovide hating relatively soft and hard areas sup porting the facingmaterial, which results in rldyirie or uneven polishing, deeperpolishing-oecurs at the point of contact opposite the relatively hard ormore resistant areas. jectionahle condition also arises where thesuperimposed pads or layers making up the wheel are not joined by layersof hard adhesive material, hut are joined by layers of adhesive as softor suitor than the fibrous material, or where no adhesive joiningelement at all is used and the pads are secured together by transverselyex tending belts or pins or other similar means. In such cases where asoft joining material is used there is inevitably a difference inresistance presented hy the fibrous material and the joining materialwhich will cause ridglng or uneven polishing ii the layers presentcircumferentially parallel alternating layers. The same thing occurswhere no joining material at all is used, asin the case where the padsare secured together by holts or pins or the like, as there will beareas of relatively low resistance at the joints between ad- ((Ul.Ell-dim) jacent pads. In order to eliminate such ride-inc; and unevenpolishing, it is necessary for the operator to manipulate the worlepiece relative to the polishing surface by holding it in differentangular positions relative thereto, and by wiping the work piece acrossthe polishing surface from different angles. It requires considerahietraining and practice to do this successfully and, unless the workman iswell skilled and lone; practiced. inferior work is the result.

There are also installations in which num-- ber of polishing wheels arearranged at succeed ins" stations and to which the work is passed byautomatically operated worlc handling: machh1- cry. the conventionalpolishing wheels of the type ole-- scribed, to dispose them in differentangular po sitions along the line of the work". so that sue ceedlue"wheel will move across the worlt is. a different path than. thepreceding wheel eliminate the ridrrlmr or uneven polishing produced bythe areas of different resistance of the preceding wheel. This presentsa complicated and expensive arrangement for drivhie" or operating thewheels and also for passing" the worlr from wheel to wheel.

One object of my invention is to provide polishing device oi the typedescribed, in which the relatively soft and relatively hard areaspresented by the working surface of the device are so arranged as toeliminate scratching, ridgirig' or uneven polishing. and also to maizeit unnecessary to manipulate the wort; piece relative to the workingsurface in order to prevent oneven polishing.

Another object of my invention is to provide a polishing device of thetype described, which may he successfully operated by relativelyunskilled workmen, which will effect a substantial saving in thepolishing time required, and which will also eliminate many of theexpensive and complicated arrangements necessary to operate a gang ofpolishing devices where it is desired to feed and manipulate the workbymachinery, and which will eliminate, in many cases, the hecessity ofgangs wherein some wheels are used. to correct the work. of otherwheels.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention isillustrated in the combination, arrangement and construction of partsdescribed in the following specification and claimed in the appendedclaims, and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view inside elevation of a polishing wheel made accordingto my invention and In such installations, it is necessary, with ova NJM having a part of the side covering broken away to better illustratethe construction. 7

Fig. 2 is an edge view of my device, having part of the wearing face ofglue and abrasive broken away to better illustrate the construction.-

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary, sectional I view taken on line 33 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the disclike layers of clothmaterial used in the construction of my device.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another of the layers of cloth materialof different shape than Fig. 4, which is also used in the constructionof my device.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary edge view of my device, having partsbroken away to better illustrate the construction.

The embodiment of my invention shown in the drawing comprises a wheel,generally indicated by the numeral I, which is made up of a number ofsuper-imposed pads or layers of cloth fragments which are stitchedtogether at spaced intervals, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig.4. These layers 2 are in the form of circular discs, Other layers 3 of atapered and sector-like shape, as shown in Fig. 5, are also used; thesepads or layers are also made up of cloth fragments stitched together atspaced intervals, as indicated by the dotted lines. A number of thesepads of cloth material, super-imposed upon one another, are required tomake a wheel of a suitable thickness. It is necessary to build the wheelup in pads or layers owing to the dimculty of stitching a single layerof cloth fragments of sufficient thickness to form the desired size ofwheel.

In conventional wheels of this kind now in use, the wheel is made up ofa series of fiat discs, like that shown in Fig. 4. These discs aresecured together by layers of glue or adhesive material 4, with theresult that the peripheral edge of the wheel, which is the working face,presents a series of circumferentially extending and alternativelydisposed relatively soft and relatively hard areas or surfaces, therelatively soft areas being furnished by the edges of the cloth and therelatively hard areas being presented by the glue disposed between thecloth layers., Consequently, when the piece of work is held against theperipheral surface of the revolving wheel, the glue edges will causeparts of the work to be more deeply polished than the edges of thecloth, and this is so even when the working face of glue and abrasive isapplied to the periphery of the wheel. This working face consists of alayer of glue 5, a layer of abrasive such as fine emery dust 6, anotherlayer of glue 5 and a final layer of emery dust 6. The relatively hardradially evtending layers of glue 4 which secure the alternative layersof cloth 2 and 3 together, present a more rigid backing for the workingsurface of glue and emery dust than do the edges of the cloth layers.Consequently, the polishing is more severe opposite the edges of theglue layers 4 than it is opposite the softer edges of the cloth layers 2and 3. A like result occurs if the layers 4 of glue are softer or lessresistant than the adiacent edges of the pads of material 2 and 3. Insuch case the deeper polishing would occur opposite the edges of thefibrous material. The same result occurs if the pads of fibrous material2 and 3 are secured together by other means (not shown) such astransversely extending pins or bolts inserted through the assembled padsfrom side to side at points between the periphery and center of thewheel, or by clamps applied to the opposite sides of the wheel. and theglue or adhesive layers omitted, as in such cases there are areas ofrelatively low resistance opposite the 5 joints between the pads, andthe adjacent edges of the pads provided the areas of relatively highresistance which will cause deeper polishing at spaced points on thework. Thus, if the work piece is held against the periphery of the wheel1" tions relative to the surface of the wheel in order 15 to obtain anevenly polished surface, and this requires long experience and practiceto develop the necessary skill to produce acceptable work. It alsorequires a considerable amount of time.

I have eliminated this objectionable feature by constructing my newwheel of a series of circular discs, such as 2 shown in Fig. 4, whichare bent radially to form a series of undulations along the periphery ofthe discs as shown in Fig.

2. A number of these undulated discs are super- 25 imposed upon oneanother, as shown in Fig. 2, and the depressions between the succeedingundulations are filled in with a series of superimposed sector shapedpads, such as 3 shown in Fig. -5, whose side edges and apex areappropriately tapered and beveled to fit the curved surfaces of theundulated discs 2. When the wheel thus constructed, is built up to thedesired width, I apply to each side thereof a fiat annular disc l0 andto the outer sides of these annular discs l0'a canvas cover I i. Theside discs Ill may be omitted, if desired.

The construction thus described and shown in edge view in Fig. 2,presents a working face in which the curved or undulated layers 2 withtheir intervening layers of glue, intersect the straight lines of layers3 and their intervening straight lines or layers of glue, and eliminatethe uneven polishing which results when all of the layers of cloth andtheir intervening layers of glue are disposed in parallel relation. Thisis effected as will be readily understood, by the fact that in theconstruction described, the relatively hard surfaces passed across thework by 6 the glue layers are alternately followed by the relativelysoft surfaces presented by the cloth layers thus compensating for thedifferent polishing effect produced by the diflerent surfaces, or

by areas of different resistance in the working face of the wheel byreason of the laminated construction, and ultimately producing, withoutthe necessity for manipulation of the work piece, a uniformly polishedsurface.

The same method of arrangement of the pads 61 or fibrous material layersis used where the intervening layers of adhesive material is as soft orsofter than the fibrous material, and also where the pads are securedtogether without the intervening layers of adhesive. The polishingeflect 6 produced is the same, and it is to be understood that suchconstructions are within the scope of my invention.

It is also to be understood that the term "ilb- 7 rous material" as usedin the specification and claims, is intended to include canvas, cloth.leather and felt or other compacted but unwoven fibers, all of which areat times used in constructing such wheels. 1

The construction described also helps prevent the layers or pads offibrous material from bushing or spreading axially at the periphery ofthe wheel, as the ends of the pads 3 are secured or abutted against thecurved surfaces of the pads 2, and the curvature of the pads 2 resistsany diverging spread between them in an axial direction.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the'inventiondescribed without departing from the spirit and substance of the broadinvention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layersof relativelysoft fibrous material secured together by interveninglayers of relatively hard adhesive material, some of said layers beingof circular, disc-like form sinuously curved relative to the peripheryof said wheel, and others of said layers being sector shaped and fittedin the depressions formed on opposite sides of said curved layers.

2. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of relatively softfibrous material secured together by intervening layers of relativelyhard adhesive material, some of said layers being in the form ofcircular discs sinuously curved relative to the periphery of said wheel,and others of said layers being sector shaped and fitted in thedepressions formed on opposite sides of said curved layers, and. a flatcircular disc-like layer secured on each side of said combined curvedand sector-shaped layers.

3. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of relatively softfibrous material secured together by intervening layers of relativelyhard adhesive material, some of said layers having their peripheraledges sinuously arranged and traversing the width of the periphery ofsaid wheel, and others of said layers being substantially uniplanarthroughout and sectioned to fit in the depressions in said sinuouslycurved layers, all forming a fiat sided wheel having a working peripheryof uniform width.

4. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of relatively softfibrous material secured together by intervening layers of relativelyhard adhesive material with the edges of said layers arranged in axiallyspaced hard and soft areas at the periphery of said wheel, a centralgroup of said layers having their peripheral edges sinuously curved fromside to side of the periphery of said wheel, and others of said layersbeing fitted in the depressions at the' sides of said sinuously curvedlayers and having their axially spaced hard and soft areas, interruptedby the curved hard and soft areas presented by said central group oflayers.

5. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of relatively softfibrous material secured together by intervening layers of relativelyhard :3 adhesive material with the edges of said layers arranged inaxially spaced hard and soft areas at the periphery of said wheel, andhaving the edges of some of said hard and soft layers reversely curvedalong the periphery of said wheel and obliquely interrupting the edgesof the other hard and soft layers.

6. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of fibrous materialhaving the edges of said layers presented at the periphery of saidwheel, a central group of said layers having their peripheral portionssinuously curved axially from side to side at the periphery of saidwheel, and others of said layers being sectioned and secured in thedepressions at. the sides of said sinuously curved layers.

"7. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of fibrousmaterial having the edges of said layers presented at the periphery ofsaid wheel,

a central group of said layers having their peripheral portionssinuously curved from side to side of the working face of said wheel,and others of said layers being uniplanar and fitted and secured in thedepressions at the sides of said sinuously curved layers.

8. A polishing wheel comprising, superimposed layers of fibrous materialhaving their edges presented at the periphery of said wheel, some ofsaid layers having their peripheral portions slnur ously curved alongthe working face of said wheel and axially interrupting the edges ofother and uniplanar layers.

9. A polishing wheel comprising superimposed layers of fibrous material,said layers being of circular, disc-like form sinuously curved relativeto the periphery of the wheel, and separate independent sectors offibrous material fitting in the depressions formed on opposite sides ofsaid layers to form a wheel having a working area of uniform Width.

10. A polishing wheel comprising superimposed layers of fibrousmaterial, such layers being of circular, disclike form sinuously curvedrelative to the periphery of the wheel, separate independent sectors offibrous material fitting in the depressions formed on opposite sides ofsaid layers to form an assembly of sinuously curved layers and sectors,and separate straight edged annular discs of fibrous material secured toopposite sides of said assembly of sinuously curved layers and sectors,all forming a wheel having a working area of uniform width.

MATT RYAN.

